SUBSISTENCE OF BEAVERS. 187 



equally true with reference to the four lodges on the 

 margin of the natural pond hereafter described. 



The brush-heap represented in the figure was in 

 front of the lodge at dam No. 34. It was simply a 

 pile of brush, composed of alder bushes and the small 

 branches of deciduous trees, sunk to the bottom of the 

 pond in water about four feet deep, with a portion of 

 the pile rising above the surface. To form these 

 heaps, they tow in the brush to the place, piece by 

 piece, and sink it in some way in a well-compacted 

 pile, which after a short time becomes firmly anchored 

 in the mud below. A Missouri trapper informed the 

 author that he had seen beavers, while performing 

 this work, swim to the place towing a piece of brush, 

 and then, holding the large end in their mouths, go 

 down with it to the bottom apparently to fix it in the 

 mud-bottom of the pond. An ordinarj^ pile covers an 

 area from ten to fifteen feet in diameter, and rises a 

 few feet above the surface of the water, and contains 

 the substance of half a cord of wood. 



Both the Indians and the trappers regard these 

 brush-heaps as their winter supply of provisions. 

 Whether the old brush is removed each fall, and its 

 place supplied with fresh, I have not been able to 

 ascertain with any certainty, but it is very doubtful. 

 I have seen the same brush piles at the same lodges 

 in diffi?rent years, on the Carp, the brush itself being 

 old and decayed; but without knowing whether the 

 lodges were still occupied. In any event it would be 

 necessary to replenish the supply at times, to make 

 good the waste by decay. While the brush was fresh 

 they would be certain to use it for food, but whether 

 it is their supply for the winter, is made doubtful by 



